Friday, 29 May 2015

Book Review: Annie Murray: The Narrowboat Girl

The Narrowboat Girl



  


























Author: Annie Murray
Title: The Narrowboat Girl
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance,


I was given this book.

This book has 457 pages and 48 chapters in it.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book.

Synopsis: Young Maryann nelson is devastated at the loss of her beloved father.But worse is to come when her mother Flo, sees an opportunity to better herself and her family in a marriage to the local undertaker Norman griffin. Through on the surface a caring family man, Norman is not at all what he seems. As Maryann and her sister Sally soon discovers. Unable to turn to their unsympathetic mother for support, the girls are left alone with their harrowing secret. But for Sally it is too much too bear... The chance of a new life opens up for Maryann when she befriends Joel Bartholomew. Aboard his narrowboat, the Esther Jane, she finds herself falling in love with life on the canal as she is swept away from Birmingham and all her worries. Until Joel's feelings for Maryann begin to change, awakening all the old nightmares that she thought long buried, and in panic and confusion she takes flight... Maryann     runs away and works in a house for a bit until one day she chooses to go down to the boats to see if the Esther Jane is there and she does not see Joel, his Father or Ada she seen Joel's brother Darius and she asked about his father who was also named Darius and Ada but their sister Ada had drowned four years ago and Maryann  started to cry she had to wipe tears away and she says she was a good one your sister and Darius said Joel was in hospital because he was very ill with his lungs and Maryann offered to go see Joel in hospital and seeing Joel made Maryann realize she really did love Joel and Maryann's sister Sally had took her own life after what Norman did to her and she could not take any more. Maryann burnt down Norman's business and Norman left her mother after that. Maryann's mother did not like that her daughter had to say about Norman she called Maryann a dirty liar. Maryann asked her brother Tony to found out where Norman is so she can face him and her brother finds him and he is living with another mother and her two daughters and one reminds Maryann of the way Sally looked and she confronts the woman and told her everything that he did to Maryann and Sally and the woman did not believe Maryann and her daughters said you are not going to be here to stop it.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and hard to put down once l started reading it and l have the follow on to this book it is called the water gypsies and l would say to have both so you can carry on the story. I really liked reading about MaryAnn and siblings being with their father and getting a kitten and how they use to go meet their father from work until he got hit by a car and sadly passed away. Their mother married Norman Griffin and l found it hard to read what he did to Sally and MaryAnn and to them other innocent girl it was horrible and it was upsetting to read that Sally and Maryann's mother did not believe them. I was sad to read that Norman waited until Flo's niece was dying to rape MaryAnn. It was sad to read that Maryann's baby cousin passed away and so did her beloved Nan and Norman killed all the animals that her Nan had by breaking their necks and he killed Maryann's precious kitten tiger that her father got her before he passed away. I was sad to read that Sally took her own life after the what Norman did to her and l was glad MaryAnn burnt his business down. I was sad that Norman moved on to another woman with her two daughters. I was sad that Joel's mother Esther had died and Ada drowned. I was glad MaryAnn was helping Margaret and Amy tell their mother who did not believe them at first and then Margaret set him on fire after he raped her in front of Amy it is a very sad book but there is some good parts. I was glad Margaret and Amy's mother believed them and Amy Made her way to Nancy's house where Maryann was staying. I can not believe Maryann's mother did not believe what he was doing to them. Maryann's mother hates MaryAnn because Norman left her because she had no daughters at home. I was happy to read that Maryann married Joel and Joel did not die. I was glad to read that Nancy got out of her abuses marriage and gets with Darius wish she could of married Darius though. She goes to live with him on a boat and l was sad to read that Joel and Darius's father had to stay on dry land with his sister because he was getting to poorly to be on the boat. Maryann had a son with Joel and names him after his father and she finds out she is pregnant again. Maryann said if the baby was a girl they would name her Sally or Ada because they had both sadly passed away. Maryann was angry that when Sally died her mother buried her as a griffin not nelson that was their father's surname. Maryann's mother sounds like she did not care about her children she only cares about the money and trying to better herself no matter the cost. Maryann's mother hates Nancy's mother.

About The Author: Annie Murray was born in 1960 in Berkshire, and studied English at oxford university. Her first job took her to Birmingham where she met her husband, John. They have four children. In 1992 she began writing her first Birmingham novel, Birmingham rose, which made the times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has written six subsequent novels including, most recently, the highly successful chocolate girls.

About The Book: l love this cover and this book has two different covers and l love the front.


Stars Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.


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